


Electrophobia

by WhiteSugarTea



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Episode: s01e01, Gen, Hardly Any Dialogue, Oneshot, being scared of the telephone, electrophobia, mostly Dot's thoughts when she's alone in episode one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27966113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteSugarTea/pseuds/WhiteSugarTea
Summary: She fixated her eyes on the telephone, the device that according to her priest was unnatural for its uses of electricity, it is unnatural putting electricity in wires he would say, sooner or later the electricity would come in contact with the Earth’s core and blow up the whole world he would say, he would drill these points into her head at every opportunity he would get, and she would trust him, because when would a priest ever not tell the truth?Set during the first episode when Phryne tells Dot to call the police if she's not back by midnight.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 19





	Electrophobia

**Author's Note:**

> electrophobia (ē-lĕk″trō-fō′bē-ă)  
> Irrational fear of electricity.
> 
> This is my first fic on AO3 and my first fic for this fandom! Feedback is heavily appreciated!

“You’ll be safe enough here”

Phryne called out to Dot, who was sitting on the sofa in Phryne’s hotel room, cup of cocoa in hand and still trembling from the close call with Butcher George earlier on that day. If Phryne had been even a minute later in finding her it would have ended in disaster for Dot and she did not want to think of all the terrible things that had happened in that very room, just the thought of it made Dot sick to her stomach. Her heart ached for Alice, she couldn’t even bring herself to think of the emotional and physical pain she must be in.

“But if I don’t return home by midnight you might have to call the police”

“On the telephone?” Dot stammered, evidently already frightened as she looked back and forth between Phryne and the device sitting on the coffee table just feet away from her.

“I’m afraid so”

Phryne tugged on her gloves and coat, inspected herself in the mirror once more and strolled over to where Dot was sitting, saying cheerio and bending over to kiss her on the forehead, leaving a crimson lipstick stain there before sauntering out the door, leaving Dot all alone in a room full of things which would scare her to death if she even laid her eyes on them.

Dot sat in silence, a million thoughts running through her head at once, never in a million years did she expect all this to happen when she got the job as a maid for Mr and Mrs Andrews. Her plan was to work as a maid until she found a nice, Catholic man to marry and start a family with, but in an unlikely turn of events she has somehow been thrown into a murder investigation, has been suspected of murdering her employer, was almost the victim of a crazy doctor and is now sitting in the hotel room of a woman she has just met.

The silence in the room was only broken by the ticking of the clock, which felt agonisingly slow, and the nervous tapping of Dot’s fingers against the ceramic teacup she was holding. She fixated her eyes on the telephone, the device that according to her priest was unnatural for its uses of electricity, it is unnatural putting electricity in wires he would say, sooner or later the electricity would come in contact with the Earth’s core and blow up the whole world he would say, he would drill these points into her head at every opportunity he would get, and she would trust him, because when would a priest ever not tell the truth?

She turned her attention to the clock which sat upon the fireplace. 11:30. She prayed that Miss Fisher would arrive back in any second and she wouldn’t have to use the telephone, which caused her so much anxiety to even think about, she would never go against her priest’s words and wouldn’t risk blowing up the world. She hoped Miss Fisher would come back safely, for she trusted her, despite having only just met her. Phryne kept telling Dot that there was no need to keep calling her Ma’am or Miss Fisher, but Dot would disagree, she preferred formalities.

In the midst of her praying that Miss Fisher would come home safely before midnight Dot was forcibly pulled out of her thoughts by the chiming of the clock. Her heart dropped as she jolted to look at the clock. There she saw it, plain as day, midnight. Anxiety ran through her veins. She knew what she needed to do. The little voice in her head was yelling at her not to do it, yelling at her to not touch the telephone, not to touch any electrical device, she shoved the voices away. She needed to be brave. Miss Fisher needed her. Miss Fisher could be in danger. Dot wasn’t going to let the one person who was nice to her during the whole murder investigation get hurt.

Dot got up from the sofa, placed her teacup on the table and crept her way over to where the telephone was sitting. She hesitantly reached out for the telephone, her priest’s words clouding her brain. Dot took a deep breath and gathered all her strength to grab the receiver and dial the police number with trembling hands. Her anxiety rising and her hands getting shakier as she heard the phone dial, until she heard the familiar voice of the policeman who came to question her back at Mr and Mrs Andrew’s estate.

_“City South police station. Constable Collins speaking”_

Tears were welling up in Dot’s eyes from nerves and she could hardly get any words out her throat.

“Miss Fisher needs help!” she managed to yell through her nerves “Please it’s urgent!”

She heard Constable Collins dart up from his seat and run into another room, yelling for the inspector and Dot slammed down the receiver onto the telephone and took a few steps back, taking deep breaths to cool her anxiety, her eyes still fixated on the telephone. She had to admit it wasn’t as scary as she had imagined it to be. She slowly took a seat back on the sofa and closed her eyes, taking more deep breaths and praising herself for the bravery that overtook her in that moment. That was enough bravery for one night. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at midnight after starting to rewatch the show and trying to clear my mind of thinking about all the assignments I have due for school I can't bother doing. I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
